Base for stools and other articles of furniture



July 6 1926.

H. c. WILLSON Y BASE FoR STOOLS AND OTHER ARnLEs 01* FURNITURE 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 Filed July 5. 1924 Add ' INVENTOR Ma M BY W ' ATTORNEYS u y 6 1926. v

. H. c. WlLLSON,

BASE FOR STOOLS AND OTHER ARTICLES 0F FURiWITURE filed- July '5. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTOR YWJM ATTORNEYS Patented July 6,1926.

A E FoR sToo s Ann oanna ARTICLES or stamens;

, v Application filed. .T u1y'3,.1924; Serial ii -lvaaees.

This inventionrelate's to impro'vementsin bases l for stools and other articles of furniture. J

In certain '5 improvement on thatdisclosed in my U. S.

- struction, it is also-an object of the invention to provide means for limitingtheextent-of;

Letters Patent, 1,453,650, granted May '1,

1923. That is the presentinvention contemplates, and has for an object to provide,

. a base for any article of'furniture which E p p v form and easily assembled. The stoolcom: any

by screws 11, to a I suitably fixed to the upper end of a post 13 7 base canbe shipped in-knocked downt form and assembledwithout the: use of I too-ls; The parts otthe'baseja-reheldftoQ gether -without theuse of pins,screw's, bolts, lorthelikefandare so interengaged as to be self sustaining. l l r In another aspect, the invention contemplates, and has as object to provide, an im-; proved base which will fh'averesilient qualities andthis feature of the invention isespecially applicable to stools and like'articles which are, used to sit upon. 'In connection-with the resilient base conthe resilient movement andsuch means may .be in the nature offixed stopsor the result may be obtained by applying a braking action tothe downward movement of the v fl standard, or both these forms may be' used U :colnjointly, the braking action serving-to gradually arrest the downward movement to Fig. 2- and illustrating modifications'in 2"- andwitha'downward slope. These open-x ings ireelyreceive the free ends of the up-, 5

and cause lessabrupt engagement withthe stops. r

Other features of the invention. will. ap pearin the following description and in the accompanyingdrawings, in which-.

embodying my invention;

F 1 is an elevational' view of a stool Fig. :2 is an enlarged fragmentary View," llustrating the details of partly insection, the spring base construction;

Fig. 4 is a view taken similarly to Fig. 2 illustrating the manner. in which of the base are assembled;- 1 V Fig. 5 is a view, taken similarly to Fig. 9 and illustrating a. modification of theinvention, designed for use when'theresilient x qualities are not necessary ordesired; and F gs. G and -7 are. viewstaken similarly the s'pring base; construction. I i V In these drawings, thereis shown, as an F illustrative example of one of many articles respects this invention is an The base or thisrinventioii 'central bore' 21' to freelyreceive the lo w taken on the parts free endsfl of the lower .arms

7 V The invention, being con"; cerned with the pendent'of th'e'constructural details of otherparts of the-stool. 1:", T

I prefer, however, to construct the stool of furniture with which inventionfmay; beused, a'stool.

base constlllction,'isqindea; l

inthe-inanner shown because, with the illus l it trated construction, the parts. of the stool may be readily shipped in knockeddown ment of seat l0.'is required; If such "adjust ment is not requiredone of these elements may, obviously,be dispensed w th-j As an example of one means for securing'th-e vertical'adjustment the post 13 isprovided with I a vertical 'serie'siofholes l5and a *pin16, entering through 'a holein the standardla near its upper end, may be engaged in any of this series of holes, whereby to hold the tions of vertical adjustment. The pin 16is ,80 post and-standard together invarious p'osi-i' Y fornied'onone endofabentsprin'g wire" l7,the other" end passing ;diametrically '85 I throughthestandard and being suitably secured thereto,.as by riveting the end 18. "A

loop 19 is'prei'erably roVided'ftoaEQrd a 7 "convenientg fip for use inavithdrawing the pin 16,when requ red, 1'1 :f l includes-an addition to thestandard let,- a member 20, 1er-' erablyin the nat-ure of acasting'hav nga end ofst-andard 14k, and-aseriesI-of legs Each of these legs is im'adeup fron'ralarge .Wire or rod, preferably of roundcrossseG U011, by bending the wire intermediate its end, as atj23, t'ormingyupper and lower arms 24 and 25,"respect1'veljy,' botlr l 100 25 are; f-

disposed in the same vertical,planefl The Wer 4 upturned,substantially. vertically, as indicatedf at 26., The member :20, which is slid'ablyf engaged .in standard' ly is provided with a ser'ies of radiatingfhubs 27,-inj which are formedopenings 28 lead:

ingmfrom' the bore 21 radially outwardly per arms 2%; Below the openings 28, an]

equal number of vertical slots 29 are provided in the member 20, which slots are large enough to permit the upturned ends preferably '26 of the lower arms to be'passed there.-

through into the bore 21, as illustrated in Fig. .4. Pre'ferably,the ends 26, when thus brought into grouped relation, have their upper extremities slightly outt-urned, as illustrated in somewhat exaggerated form in rig. 4. The lower end ofstandard 14 is interiorly" ta aered, as at 30.

" -Th e' parts, when positioned as in Fig. 4, are

finally 7 V the standard 14, the bevelled end camthese ends 26 into the open connected-together by forcing down upwardly, firmly grip the interior wall of standard, it depresses arms standard 14, whereby the parts cannot readily loosen and fall apart when pressure on the standard is relaxed. I

The normal positions of the parts, urvsembledas described, is shown in Fig. 2 and it will be. noted that the slots 29 ex tend below arms 25 to an appreciable extent. With this condition in mind and bearingin mind that standard 14 is capable of freely sliding in member 20, it will be seen that when weight is applied to the 25, which flex about the floor engaging parts 28, as fulcrums and the weight is balanced against the resiliency of these arms,giving a spring support for the standard. The upper arms 24 act as struts to support the member 20 from the floor during the action described. It is desirable to limit the degree of ore of the lower arms. 'Ot'herwise, an, abnormally heavy loadon seat 10 might cause the arms 25 to flex beyond their elastic limits and break. For this purposel provide closed lower walls for slots 29, forming stops 32 against which arms 25' may abut to limit the downward movement of standard 14. As another means of arresting the downward travel of standard. 14, the end faces of the free ends of arms 24 may be allowed. to have access to the outer peripheryof standard 14. With this arrangement, the downward fiexure of arms 25 tends to'force the end faces of arms 24 against the standard 14, and the frictional engagement acts like a brake to retard the downward movement of standard14. The end faces of arms 24 preferably have portions 33, which are parallel to the axis of standard 14, so that these faces rub against, rather-than dig into the standard. Desirablythe stops and braking. means are used in conjunction, the latter serving to retard the downward movement of the standard as arms25 approach stops tions.

32. In this manner an undesirable abrupt termination of the downward movement of tumers, taborets, stands and the like articles of furniture, the same construction may be used except that the slots 29 are decreased in length so as not to extend materially below arms 25 in their normal unflexed posie This condition is illustrated in Fig. 5 andthe constructionthere shown haspall the. desirable features relating to simplicity of constructionand ease of assembly of parts, as the construction already described; \Vith the construction shown in Fig. 5, the end faces of'the free ends of the upper arms 25 may be bevelled, as at 34, so as to dig into thestandard 14 when weight is imposed thereon, asdescribed in my priorpatent, above identified, whereby an extremely rigid base vconstructionis provided. a

in Fig. 6, I have illustrated another consupport may be had without the use of the stops or the braking effect. struction the member 20" is formed in much the same manner as disclosed in the above identified patentbut is freely slidable on the standard 14. The openings 28, which receive the free ends of the upper arms 24 do not extend entirely through the'member 20 and they consequent y do not exercise any brakin ment of the standard 14. The member 20" terminates 'short of the lower ,end of the standard and arms-25 pass below, but not through, the member 20. The free endsof arms 25 are, however, upturned and wedged, into the lower open end of standardrl4, in the above mentioned prior patentl In.

In this. coneffect on the downward moveoperation, the weight on, standard 14 depresses it and causes arms 25 to flex in the same manner, as already described.

It is not necessarily essential that the upper arms 24 be connected to a separate menn ber, such as the casting 20. The. essential thing is that some means be provide'd atthe ends of such arms which will permitthe standard 14 to move downwardly relatively.

ment shown in Fig. 7, the lower end of st d 5 ard 14 would be provided with notches 87 in which the lower arms 25 are engaged to locate and space them angularly relatively to the standard.

The base construction describeddis such that'the several'partsmay be "readily;v

conveniently assembled without the jnse of tools. :Indeed, the entire stool construction is designed with this end in View andtno more thama screw driver'wou'ld'he -required to fasten the seat 10 to braciketlfl, The Stool may be shipped in compact knocked down form and easily andquickly assem' bled when required, The constructioniof' stool is also such as to lend itselfto quantity production at low unit cost. r t

The spring base constructionnis a most desirable feature in stools and thelike,v as distinguished from arigid base; "Whenone sits down on the seat 10, it yields gradually until the weight imposed on the seat is balancedby the force of the springarms 25. The practical elfect is the same as when one sits down on a soft yielding cushion and the yielding feature addsconsiderably to the" merits of the stool without adding'to its manufacturing cost.

fixed to said standard, whereby is imposed on the standard thevlatterslides The invention hasbeen disclosed herein, 7 V for illustrating form an upper and a lower arm, and apart connected to theffree end of each upper said standarm and slidably engagedwith ard, the free ends of the lower arms being when weight downwardly relatively tc said upper arms and flexes said lower arms; v

2; In an articleof furniture, the combina tion of a hollow vertical standard, a member slidably engaged with the standard' near its "lower end and having a plurality of radial. openings, and a plurality of legs one for each of said openings and each consisting of a "wire bent near the center and having: two separate arms in .the same vertical plane,

the'ends'of the upper arms being engaged ill) in said openings and the ends of the other arms being substantially vertically" upturned and engaged within said hollow standard.

:A. spring'base for stools andthe like,

comprising incombination with avertical standard, a series of wire legs eachlbent to form an upper and a lower arm, connected to the free end of each-upper arm and slidablv enga ed with said standard [the free ends of the lower arms being fixed to said standard, whereby when weight is imposedon the standard thelatter slides down-n wardly relatively to said upper-arms and tleiges saidolower arms, and means for limiting the extent movement.

with a vertical 2 standard, a series of wire legs eachbent to] L'openings and the. free and a part of said downward sliding 411i; spring base for stools and the like,

comprising in combination wit-ha vertical rstand; 7 form an upperand a lower arm,,apart connected to the free end of each upper arm d, a series of wire legs each' benttoH and slidably engaged with" said standard, the free ends of the'lower j'arms being fixed to said: standard, whereby wlien weightds imposed on the standard the "latter slides downwardlyrelatively to "s: -d upperarms I and flexes said lower arms, stops forl m ting the extent of said-downward sliding movement, the flexure of'said lower arms causing the free ends-'of-theupper arms to gradually rebear agai the standard and tard the downward movement of said standard as it approaches said stops, I V

5. A spring base for stools and the like,

comprising in combination with *avertical standard, a seriesof wire legs each bent to form an upperandalower arm,'a part conslidably engaged tothe free d o each pp arm and 1 with aid standard the.

free ends of the lower arms being fixed to a 1 said standarch'whereby. when weight is imposed on the standard, the latter slides down,- viardly relatively. to sa1d .upper arms and flexes-said lowerarms, the flexurejof'said lower arms causing the free ends of the up per arms to bear on the'standard and apply a braking effect on said standard as itnioves; downwardly, wherebyto gradually lncr'ease the resistance to its downward movement.

6. In an article of furniture, the combine tion of-a hollow vertical standard, a member slidably mountedthereon near its lower end and having a series of radial openings therethrough, and a series of legs each comprisupper arms being slidably received in "said ends of the lower arms being fixed to sa1d standard, whereby y when weight is imposed-on the stai'idardthe latter moves downwardly through said mem-i her and flexes said lower arms and causes the,

ends of the upper." arms to move inwardly in sa d openings against said standard.

ber slipped over and slidably; engaged with "the standard nearits lower and, said incur-- 7. In an article of furniture, the combinatlon ot a hollow-vertical standard, a mem inga wire bent intermediate its ends to form upper and lower arms',the free ends of the her having a series of radial openings there-' througlrand a series of vertical slots there through below said openings, and a series of legs each. comprising. diate its ends to form upper and lower arms, the freeends of the'lower arms being'upwire bent interme turned substantially vertically,the free ends of the upper arm's being slidably received in said openings; the upturned ends of the lower arms pass ng through said slots and engaged within the lower. end of saidhollow standardflf z 8. ln'an article of furnlture, the combination of a hollow vertical standard, a memthrongh below said of legs each eomprlslng a wire bent lnterher slipped overand slidably engaged With the standard near its lower end, said memher having aseries of radial openings therethrough and a series of-Vertioal slots thereopenings, and a series 'me'diate its ends to form -npper and lower arms, the free ends or" the upper arms being slidably engaged in said openings and the free ends of the lower arms being upturned and passed through said slots into grouped and substantially abutting relation, With their upper extremities slightly outturned,

signature; a V V HOl/VARD C. WVILLSONL 

